PETALING JAYA, July 14 — It’s not hard to see why so many people have been drawn to a bowl of seafood noodles over the years.
The broth is brimming with flavour, lightly sweet and always hits all the right spots.
Choices are also in abundance, letting you curate a bowl of satisfaction to fit your needs and wallet, whether it’s a king prawn or maybe the humble fish ball.
The latest to join the seafood noodles movement is YNL Seafood Noodle, nestled inside the cavernous Sunway Nexis.
An offshoot of YNL Seafood which is also in the Kota Damansara neighbourhood, they specialise in Sabah sourced seafood.
Eager diners are gravitating here for their seafood noodles, packing the place during lunch time on weekdays and weekends too.
Luckily the kitchen is up to speed with orders and the table turnover is quite efficient.
Coral Grouper Fish Fillet Noodle can be enjoyed with a mildly spicy curry. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
If you can’t be bothered to study their glossy menu, thankfully there are helpful servers to steer you to crowd favourites like the Grouper Fish Fillet Noodle (RM17.90), Coral Grouper Fish Fillet Noodle (RM24.90) or Tasty Lala Noodles (RM16.90).
Underpinning each bowl is a broth, prepared daily by slowly simmering over a low fire, a combination of chicken bones, fish bones and fish head, naturally sweetened with carrots and yam bean or sar kot.
Even without any pork or lard, it’s a deeply flavourful broth that is comforting and familiar, which begs one to finish every drop.
A dash of rice wine is added to it, just a little to layer it gently with sweetness. Opt for an alcohol-free version if that’s your preference.
Each bowl seems to have gone through the hands of a food stylist, as every ingredient, from the cos lettuce leaves, beancurd skin and seaweed is beautifully placed all around the noodles with your seafood.
A final flourish of chopped greens and golden fried garlic crown the bowl, enticing you to dig in.
The fish fillet, whether it’s grouper or coral grouper, is flaky and fresh, while the grouper tends to be a tad firmer.
Tasty Lala Noodles lives up to its name with plump clams and a broth laced with rice wine and strips of ginger. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
What seems to capture everyone’s attention is the Tasty Lala Noodles; when she spied my bowl topped with thick white shells opened and the plump, sweet clams peeking out, one woman proclaimed loudly this would be her next order when she revisits.
Here the broth feels a little sweeter and thin strips of young ginger enhance the broth too, leaving you super satisfied.
Even though there’s an option to ask for a dry version of the noodles, almost every table has a bowl of seafood noodles with broth instead.
You’re served their signature chilli sauce on the side. It has a slightly piquant and not overly spicy flavour. For those who seek soy sauce with chillies instead, just request for this.
For a different flavour profile, try their curry version. I paired it with coral grouper fish.
Tiger Prawn Roll is the best snack on the side with its crispy beancurd skin and that slightly sweet, juicy filling of prawn and yam bean. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
The curry has a gentle spiciness which makes it nice to drink while the sambal on the side isn’t too spicy either.
With the curry version, they add cockles but sadly, these aren’t plump specimens but the shrunken small sized ones.
The menu is vast, requiring deeper diving into fish head noodles with different types of fish like tilapia, grouper and ling fish, to a prawn noodle using a prawn broth and a choice of deep sea prawns or king prawns.
For the ultimate bowl at the peril of your wallet, you can curate a bowl with all the prized catches like humphead wrasse fillet or su mei, parrot fish, blue throat wrasse, said to be wild caught in deep sea and free from chemicals.
The various types of fish depend on availability and follow market price.
Crispy Fish Bean Curd Roll (left) is great dipped into curry but skip the Handmade Fish Cake (right) as it’s too rubbery. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
There’s also an ultimate seafood noodle with lobster, fish slices, scallops, swordfish balls and fish paste for RM48.80.
Various bites and snacks can also be ordered like the Tiger Prawn Roll (RM14.90 for five pieces), essentially a crispy fuchuk roll filled with sweet tasting prawn and paste with a surprise crunch from yam bean.
For the curry noodles, the Crispy Fish Bean Curd Roll (RM10) is perfect for a dip-eat action with that mild curry.
We suggest skipping the Handmade Fish Cake (RM12.90 for three pieces) though, as it was too rubbery but dunking it inside the broth helped to soften it.
For those who are unfamiliar with Sunway Nexis, the restaurant is located near to the east entrance and opposite Hei Heng.
With the breezy environment inside the building, dining at the front area of the restaurant is pleasant. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
YNL Seafood Noodle,
C-GF-08, Sunway Nexis,
No 1, Jalan PJU 5/1,
Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily: 9am to 8pm (Monday to Friday), 8.30am to 8pm (Saturday and Sunday).
Tel: 019-7883323.
Facebook: YNL Seafood Delight
*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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